Neighborhood asks Traffic Committee for speed bumps

Armed with a petition signed by some of his neighbors, Bill King asked the Hannibal Traffic Committee for help Thursday morning in getting motorists to obey stop signs along Pioneer Trail.

DANNY HENLEYdanny.henley@courierpost.com

Armed with a petition signed by some of his neighbors, Bill King asked the Hannibal Traffic Committee for help Thursday morning in getting motorists to obey stop signs along Pioneer Trail.

“Drivers are continuously blowing through the stop signs,” said King, noting the problem is especially bad as vehicles come east on the roadway. “We hear the screech of tires all the time. It’s ridiculous.”

Traffic from Highway MM to West Ely Road has picked up on Pioneer Trail since the West Ely street project wrapped up.

“It’s a major cut-through, no doubt about it,” said Traffic Committee member Susan Osterhout.

King has lived for 11 years in the neighborhood, which he says consists of many retired individuals, but some children.

The petition King submitted contained approximately a dozen names of people who live near where the stop signs are located, but King expressed confidence he could come up with “100 or more names.”

The number of names on the petition was sufficient to start the process at city hall of gaining more information on the issue. Letters will be sent out seeking input from residents in the area, either through one-on-one comments or a neighborhood meeting hosted by city officials. A traffic study will also be conducted in the area.

Lt. John Zerbonia of the Police Department provided accident reports and citation records from the neighborhood for the past five years. During that time five tickets were issued, none of which were for speeding or running a stop sign. As for accidents, there have been six, with none occurring as the result of failing to stop at a stop sign.

If there is neighborhood support for doing something, it then becomes a matter of what can be done. King requested that 2-inch “speed bumps” be installed near the signs.

“A speed bump will jar them and make them think that maybe they should have stopped at that stop sign,” he said.

While not opposed to having speed tables in a residential neighborhood, Mark Rees, city engineer, wondered if putting them near a stop sign was the solution.

“We’ll get more bang for our buck by keeping the tables further away from the intersection,” said Rees. “Stop signs are a traffic calming measure by themselves.”

Installing “rumble strips” near the stop signs, to alert motorists of the approaching intersection, was discussed but gained little momentum.

Rees suggested that stepped up traffic enforcement in the area might help the situation. King offered to allow an officer to park in his driveway any time, day or night. Zerbonia noted that posting an officer regularly in the area is not feasible.

Whatever solution is agreed to, it will not happen overnight. Rees suggested an answer may not be found “until the snow flies.”

“We’ll be getting into the winter months when asphalt (for speed tables) is not available,” said Brian Chaplin, Traffic Committee chairman.